Closing devices, so-called clip machines, are known, e.g. from DE-A-40 13 033. Such devices particularly have a pair of displacement shears as closing tool. The displacement shears constrict the tubular packaging inserted into the shears in an opened position of the shears by closing the shears, wherein both shears are located side by side (shirring process). After the constriction or the shirring respectively, the one shear is displaced laterally or in the longitudinal direction of the packaging respectively, away from the other shear which is fixed, whereby the product located in the packaging is pushed out of the area situated between the shears and therefore a product-free area (sausage end) is created between the formed sausage-type packaging units or sausages respectively, in which the closing clip or closing clips is or are subsequently applied by means of a closing tool. During this, the sausage end may also be cut between the sausages in order to form individual sausages. Normally two clips are applied, that is to say the second clip for the leading sausage and the first clip for the subsequent sausage. When the second clip is applied, a hanging loop is attached to the sausage or to the last of a series of connected sausages by means of the clip, if this is desired. The sausage or the series of sausages may be suspended on a smoke stick by means of the hanging loop.
Arrangements consisting of a closing device and a suspension device, which allow for suspending the sausages exiting the closing device on smoke sticks without manual intervention, are known from the European patent applications EP 1 891 858 A1, EP 1 891 859 A1 and EP 1 891 860 A1. In these cases the closing device and the suspension device are arranged in a line. These arrangements have proved their worth. However, these arrangements are not suitable for particularly long sausages or sausage chains, which have e.g. a length of between a meter and two meters.